First Sunday of Lent

Readings of the Day

In today’s passage, the Spirit drove Jesus into the desert immediately after Jesus’ baptism. God said to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” In liberation theology, this event would be considered Jesus’ conscientización, when Jesus came to realize his full identity and mission.

Conscientización requires a true test of resolve. Otherwise, one’s identity would be merely conceptual and one’s mission be but an empty promise. Being driven in the desert forced Jesus to wrestle not only with who he was but also with what he was called to do. Internalizing being “God’s Beloved Son” through rejecting Satan and embracing the challenge of the desert (that is, the Cross), is key to understanding Jesus’ affinity with marginalized persons and his commitment to stand up to the structures of inequity that perpetuate suffering. Embracing the vulnerability that comes from being hungry, having no shelter, and living each day with uncertainty prepared Jesus to take up the cross and give up his life for us.

Let us now contextualize this passage in our work and ministry. The “desert” is in the 2-bedroom apartment occupied by 3 families and along creek beds and under bridges where our beloved struggle with food insecurity and homelessness. The desert is in our Black and Brown communities that fall sick and die in disproportionate numbers from COVID. But we also must remember that those who live in the desert, like Jesus, are also ministered to by “angels.” They discover their inner identity and mission, and they rise! We think of Sameena, a self-determined young woman in our refugee program who rose up from a Syrian refugee camp and then graduated from a top tier university. We think too of Carl, a returning citizen who after months of mentoring and hours of interview preparation in our employment program becomes a salaried employee with benefits.  Like Jesus in the desert who was ministered to by “angels,” Sameena and Carl were ministered to by our Catholic Charities teams. May our Lenten journey be a time both of embracing the Cross and being embraced (and embracing) angels.

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